In November, US retail sales disappointed, rising at the slowest pace since June. On a monthly basis, retail sales increased by 0.2% M/M, while the consensus was looking for a jump by 0.6% M/M. The previous figure was slightly upwardly revised, from 0.5% M/M to 0.6% M/M. Looking at the details, sales of electronics (2.1% M/M), non-store retailers (1.5% M/M), clothing (0.5% M/M), motor vehicles and parts (0.5% M/M) and furniture (0.4% M/M) rose the most in November. But this was partly offset by weakness in miscellaneous (-1.2% M/M), eating & drinking (-0.3% M/M), building materials (-0.3% M/M), food & beverages (-0.2% M/M), health & personal care (- 0.1% M/M) and gasoline stations (-0.1% M/M). Core retail sales, which exclude autos & gas, rose at the same pace as the headline figure; by 0.2% M/M, down from 0.7% M/M in October. Expectations were probably lifted after retailers reported record Black Friday sales. Against this background, the data are somewhat disappointing, but we shouldn’t draw strong conclusions from it. Retail sales rose sharply over the previous months and a temporary slowdown is not worrying, probably as investors scaled back purchases early in the month, waiting for the sales period, which started only in the last days of November.